An evolution of last year's car, the F1 W04 has an aggressively packaged rear end while the front makes use of a 'vanity panel' to smooth out the 'broken nose' characteristic of 2012.

"I could barely sleep last night," Hamilton said after pulling back the sheet to reveal the new car.

"It's quite an exciting day for us; the launch of the new car and to be new team mates with Nico. We were just saying how crazy it is because we use to be team mates back in 2000 when we were go-karting.

"So it's a dream to be back here as his new team mates."

Team principal Ross Brawn said the new design was the culmination of 12 months of planning and preparation.

"We did a substantial strengthening and restructuring of the team during 2012, beginning of 2012. And this car is now the result of that," Brawn said.

"So I feel a great deal of excitement and confidence that this car is going to be a good step forward."

Mercedes new motorsport boss Toto Wolff was also on hand to unveil the car.

His arrival at the team had led to speculation Brawn's time at Mercedes could have been ending with Niki Lauda also joining as a new Formula One team partner.

But Brawn said clarity of roles was required and the early signs were the new arrangement was working.

"I want to able to focus on the engineering, the racing, the sporting side," he said.

"But there's are a lot of other responsibilities within the team. And Niki (Lauda) and Toto (Wolff) can help a great deal in those areas. So I think now we're settling into what each one's doing and it's going to make a very strong group."